~ Han Sang Korean Family Resturant ~

I was actually suffering from gastric yesterday..Never had one before and hence never knew that the pain was so bad! :( It came on and off (something like contraction during child birth :S) ..my stomach felt like being squeezed and in sharp pain. I had to take light food... and drink warm drinks. Luckily, it felt better in the evening especially after seeing the doctor and taking a stronger doze of medicine.

Just moments ago, I had dinner at a Korean resturant at Novena Square 2 with my colleagues and ex-colleagues. (Maggie, Janet, Florence Lee, Nicole, Andrea and Florence Goh). Had a good time chatting and catching up with each other. Janet just had her hair rebonded and really look more chio :). Maggie and Florence are as pretty as ever.

We were first being served with an "appetizer" dish (I guess). It had potato, ikan bilis and some kind of nuts. Next came the other seasoned side dishes..like kimchi, Gaji (eggplant, Kongnamul (big-headed bean sprouts), Sigumchii namul ( Spinach ) , radish slice etc.

The main attraction are the meat! We had pork, beef and chicken. The waitress served us throughout our dinner. She will lay the meat on the charcoal-heated hotplate and helped us cook. Personally, I preferred the pork and beef. The chicken was too spicy and I cannot take too much as I'm still recovering from my gastric. Other than that, the rest of the food was pretty nice. :)

Pork

Fish, Mushroom, Beef, Prawn, Vegetable

Spicy Chicken

Since the chicken is too hot, I took 2 bowls of Ginseng chicken soup where the chicken is stuffed with Glutinous rice, dates and garlic. Yummy.

Ginseng Chicken Soup

The last dish was fried rice in the spicy chicken sauce. The waitress put seaweed and some vegetables and fried it just right. Too bad it's a bit spicy, else I would have enjoyed it more. Final bill came to about $37 per person.

It was a rare opportunity that I get to go out to have dinner like this so I was glad. I hope my gastric would not ignite again since I took so much food! Shared a cab home with Nicole and Florence and I was greeted by Denver and Gladys warmly! Gladys hugged me and called me "Mummy".. Denver kept asking where I went.. why am I late.. so sweet! @_@

It's Hubby's turn to go out this Friday while I stay home to take care of the kids. Hope Hubby get to win a prize in his company's DND. Good Luck!

~ Learn to let go... ~

Having a mixture of emotions now...

It's Friday! As usual, we brought the kids to Timezone @ Compass Point. It seems like a weekly activity that Denver always look forward to now. We played a couple of games and Hubby decided to try his luck with the toy pickup machine. We never had any luck with it... and to our pleasant surprise, Hubby picked up the prize on his first attempt! :D I was so excited that I jumped! It is a sad looking but cute Eeyore with a tag saying "I was WON at TimeZone"! Hubby grab Eeyore out and gave it to Gladys which she quickly hug close to her.. :)

While feeling happy on one side, Hubby received a call from my bil and it seems there might be some adjustment. Since about 3-4 years back, the family did not really have a peace of mind. Things just kinda drag on and on. All I can say is sometimes it is beyond your control and you just have to learn to 看开 and 放开。 I am still learning, and hope in time to come, I can truly attain 'enlightenment'. Maybe life will be much happier when you don't set your eyes and heart in an enclosed area. Afterall, nothing is perfect in this world.... you gain some... you lose some. Still, it's always easy to say.. but hard to do. I must admit I am still trying to cross that barrier and hopefully once I do, I'll be a happier and better person.

~ Flu ~

Has fallen ill for the past few days.. Gladys had fever on Sunday evening, I lost sleep and started to have flu on Tuesday. I kept sneezing in the office and eyes start to tear... was on Medical leave yesterday and these 2 days I'm working from home. Hope I don't start another round of virus back to them again. Got to get well soon.

~ Team Lunch ~

Suppose to be a working from home day every Friday.. but it was our Quarterly team lunch today.. so I made it to Tuas. Alice recommended the restuarant call "Penang Place" located at International Business Park. (Website: http://www.penangplace.com/).

Unlike other International buffet, the selection of food here is not wide. However, the overall quality of the food was good! I like their signature dish - Char Kway Tiao, prawn noodle and the Nasi Lemak Rice was very fragrant. Whenever the Char Kway Tiao was replenish, it will be emptied very soon! I must say it is spicy and taste really good! The other dishes like Curry chicken, otah, mixed vegetables, fried shrimp etc was great too. On top of that they also serve Ice Kachang, Rojak, traditional kuehs, Siew Mai, fruits and more.. The service of the resturant was alright and efficient... even though it's lunch hour, my plates were always cleared. There is also a beautiful backdrop of willow trees and water fountains pleasing to the eyes..Price is reasonable as well.. ($19.90 ++ for weekday lunch). The only downside its the location which is within International Business Park.. Lucky we got 3 drivers who took us all out... Kinda far for me if I am not working in Tuas... :p

I enjoyed myself and surely looking forward to the next free Team lunch. :)

~ Tech Expo 2008 ~

Yesterday, we had our Tech Expo 2008 at the canteen area. It was to promote and bring awareness on IT and the services we offered to our fellow colleagues. We went down to setup the tables, free gifts and laptops at around 9am and by 11am, we were all set! Crowd started to grow shortly after.. especially peaked at lunch hours! Everyone so busy talking and giving out freebies..

I had to raise my voice in order to be heard among them... it wasn't too long before I started to develop a dry throat and my stomach growling. We stood for almost 4 hours and when the event finally ended at 2pm, I can't wait to sit!

I got back to my seat and started munching on my Chicken Bao which I bought in the morning as my lunch. By now, I wasn't feeling that hungry at all... instead I felt dizzy, cold and my legs are getting soar. While the rest drove out for their late lunch, I stayed back to complete my reports and managed to clear some work.

By the time I'm finally home, I was almost knock out after a warm bath! As I rest on the bed, I got a shock when I realised I had fallen asleep! A great sigh of relief came shortly when my manager sent out an email to cancel yesterday night team meeting! Phew! It really was a tiring day... but I'm glad everything went smoothly and we had a good time. :)

~ Rush Rush Rush ~

Slept at 1 am the night before and didn't have the energy to work.. really feel like snuggling in bed. My phone alarm went off a couple of times but I left it snooze until it's really time to wake up. Scheduled for a meeting at 845am.. but today's traffic was really conjested. I was running late and had to make a run..

Spent the whole morning attending to meetings till 11am.. Skipped my breakfast, haven't had a sip of water and did not went to the toilet. I was really starving by now. Had an early lunch and quickly got back to work again. There was a lot of things to check, emails to reply, metrics to run and issues to troubleshoot. Did not manage to complete all the tasks.. I tried to run my Daily metrics report at 4 plus.. but it started to hang at the web page. Urghhh.. I had to rush off and complete the reporting after dinner.

When I finally finished my work and getting ready to take the kids home, Denver said he needs to bring some fruits to school tomorrow. So, we took him to buy a kiwi, pear and peach. Together with an apple and orange, he is bringing 5 different kinds of fruits for tasting in school.

Finally got home at 8 plus... had a quick bath and by now, I am really exhausted.. couldn't even keep my eyes open... What a day!... yawnz.

~ Prawn Fishing @ Marina Country Club ~

We took the children out for Prawning (aka Prawn Fishing) earlier this morning. :) All of us have FUN and it has been a great experience.

Visit our travel blog for detail writeup : http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.com/2008/07/prawn-fishing_12.html

~ Random Thoughts ~

I went to the clinic earlier this morning... and enjoyed the cool breeze on my way home... Apart from seeing people rushing to work and parents taking their kids to school, there is also another group of students who are taking their own sweet time chit chatting by Mcdonalds, aunties and uncles buying newspaper and breakfast or just sitting down enjoying their toast and coffee. I wonder how will I spend my life (if I'm still on this world) 20/25 years down the road... working? looking after grandchildren? lonely? sick? hmmmm...

Took some pictures of the open field opposite my flat. A great location for flying kite and holding major events like countdown parties. That's the place where they had fireworks during CNY. I wonder if there will be any celebrations/fireworks for National Day this year. That also reminds me that I bought a kite 2 years back and till now, I never bring Denver down to fly kite... Ha!

Today is another busy day... I did not have much time for lunch either.. was really relief when it's time to stop work and rest...TGIF!

~ Girl Girl talk!! ~

Finally.. after months of worrying... Gladys finally called "Daddy" and "Mummy" at 22 months.. It is a very long wait..and I even ponder if she has speech problems. Actually, Gladys started addressinig us last friday.. "softly". After practicing for a couple days, she can say it better, clearer and louder now. Not only that, she also started calling "gor gor", "Ma", "Gong"... plus other words as well.. like "up", "down", "拿" and trying to count... "two", "twee"..

That is indeed a big relief for me.. during her last review at the Polyclinic, Gladys did not 'pass' the question on calling Daddy and Mummy.. she was scheduled to go for another review end of July if she still doesn't call us. I suppose now I can skip that huh..

Went to Compass point for a walk after dinner.. bought stickers for Denver and also a counting bead set for the kids. We had "Muah Chee" and drank 菊花茶 and packet 4 Chicken Pies from Polo cake shop.. that will be my breakfast tomorrow. :)

One thing to comment is Denver has been behaving himself.. I just had my night meeting a couple of hours ago.. and he did not pester me like the past. He even asked how was my work today... and sayang me. *Happy*

~ Busy Youth Day ~

Busy busy day!! Just went back to work after my 1 week training and a pile of work and complains are awaiting me... On top of that, my colleague did not feel well and had to be on medical leave.. that leaves me more work.

Tried my best to clear the forms, cases and looked through some issues.. The contractors kept looking for me today and IM me one after another.. There's just not enough time! Although it was a pity, I was right not to take leave today.

Hubby took Denver, Jasper and Royston to the movies in the morning and Denver loved the show. He said it was very funny and had a lot of popcorn. :p I'm glad that he stayed through and behaved himself.. we can consider taking him for other movies next time.

Received an sms 3 hours ago that my colleague needs to be medical leave tomorrow as well...she doesn't seem to sound good... while I hope she feels better soon, this also means I got more work to clear! @@ Power up my laptop and got back to work again after the kids have fallen asleep to clear my unfinished tasks during the day... I managed to complete some andam getting tired.. Yawnz... Anyway, while I was clearing up my old emails, I found this photo taken 3 years back at the old office. Denver was 2 years old and he looked so cute and innocent then... hehehe

~ Happy Sunday ~

It's late... but I wanted to spend some time online writing on the things I felt today.

As usual, we went to my parent's place for lunch after Denver's swimming lesson. Always love to go back to have a taste of my mum's cooking. I usually skip breakfast and had 2 serving of rice during lunch. :p I missed her cooking and even though she still nags a lot.. I do miss seeing her. I like to see my brother too.. just knowing how each other is doing and getting along helps so that we don't drift too far apart.

Had a good afternoon nap and manage to sleep through till 5pm. We had sushi for dinner and went for a walk at the new Kopitiam and NTUC at Buangkok. The evening is cooling and so peaceful... Denver was cranky for awhile as he wanted to play some games at the game stalls (but we do not have the coupons). Anyway, we bought him ice-cream to cool him off and he played at the playground.

Drove in to Anchorvale CC to check out if the construction of the swimming pool has complete... and was glad to see that it has! :) I wonder when will be the opening ceremony. Denver was so excited when he saw the pool with slides.. WOW.. It's always nice to take an evening stroll... especially with the kids.

Tomorrow.. Uhh.. I mean today is Youth Day. That means no school for Denver. Hubby planned to take him and his cousins to the Movies to watch Kungfu Panda. I loved to join in too... but was not able to apply for leave at the last minute. Afterall, I was away for the past week and work is piling. I'm going to miss going with Denver on his 1st movie trip.. which is a shame. :( I hope he will enjoy the show and be good.

~ Jimmy's Wedding ~

Oh yar.. Forgot to update that Barry, Denver and I attended Jimmy's wedding last Saturday.. hehhee... Apparently, the one week training course has exhausted me that I only manage to post it now.. :p

Gladys stayed at my inlaws' place, and I can finally enjoy my dinner in peace. :p I manage to find a new set of shirt for Denver and he look really smart in it. :D Looks like a big boy....when he is only K1.

We arrived at the Hotel (Holiday Inn Park View) rather early... It was kinda bored waiting.. hehehhe. Luckily, we brought along the PSP and Denver manage to pass some time with it. We also took time to have a couple of photo shoots.

The dinner started around 8 plus and the food came rather fast. Had a glass of red wine.. and it is rare that we stay through the whole wedding banquet which ended around 11pm.. Jimmy is one of Barry's old buddy and we are happy that he finally settle down.. (meaning one less angbao to give during CNY... Hahahahaha. *joking* :p).

We reached home around midnight after picking Gladys and they fall asleep while I stay up to wash the clothes and cleanup. Only manage to sleep after 1am and was really tired the following day.. I hope I can stay through Andrea's wedding in September.. Question is whether Hubby can manage the kids.

Haven't really figure out what to wear on that day as well. Hmmmm... but it's really exciting cos almost 5 tables of colleagues and ex-colleagues will come. Including Jasmine, Janet, Catherine, Sookiat and more.. It's going to be a FUN night!!

~ How time flies... ~

Wow... It's July already? Seems like not long ago I was celebrating New Year and Chinese New Year and now we are already halfway through the year. Denver has past his 5th birthday, Gladys going to turn 2 in September and I am going to be 31 years old! Life is short... and brother and I had a conversation earlier today that we should not be indulging in our work (for Money sake!) so much that we forget to take a step back and enjoy ourselves and be happy.

At this very instance, hubby and the kids are sound asleep... The late nights (Especially weekends) are my precious personal time where I get to do the things I enjoy... :) watching drama, short clips, play PSP, blogging... etc. I figured I may have about 1-2 hours per night. Of course, that makes me a tired Mummy during the day since now I have shorter sleeping hours.. but it's definitely better than nothing.. and it kinda helps me strike a balance mentally. I guess by nature, I am not a difficult person to please and be contented.

I felt lucky to have Denver & Gladys.. Although they are noisy, trouble-makers, demanding, difficult... they bring life and joy to the family... A big hug, a sweet kiss does make my day. It will be even better if Gladys can call me "Mummy" :p... She was able to say "Pa Pa" and "Po Po" well.. but refuse to call us.. I guess she is being stubborn and playful..

Anyway, the family has been teaching Gladys to call "Mummy" and "Daddy"... and today she seems to be able to say it rather clearly.. Hopefully, she can try saying it more often and accurately soon. 加油!

Many also commented that Gladys looked like a boy and pretty much like me... hmmmm.. does that makes me 'boyish'? Do you all see the resemblance? :p hehehehe.

Time check : 1248am... Opps! Late night again.. Sleeping time...

~ Away for Training ~

Ok.. Has been missing for a couple of days as I am out on a Security Essential training course by SANS. I am in my Day 4 and it will end this Saturday...Has been really busy and tired as I have been attending the training in the morning and working in the nights for 3 consequtive days! On top of that, I did not really recover from my cough which started since last week. Not in a good mood lately.. feeling lost again... At one point, I am contented with the current status.. but on the other end, I am also feeling insecure with the tremendous changes that is happening. Should I take the risk and make the change? Or should I just be patient, observe and see? Sighz..

~ Denver's 5th Birthday ~

26 Jun - Denver's 5th birthday... How time flies... the night before, we were busy preparing the goodie bags to be distributed to Denver's classmates in school.. We bought biscuits, sweets, rulers, rubbers, pencils, whistles and balloons. Denver helpded to pack all the items into each bag.

I was on medical leave yesterday as I was suffering from a bad cold and cough.. after sending the kids over to my inlaws, hubby and I had breakfast and carried the goodie bags to school. I went to see a doctor and slept through the whole morning only to wake up in the afternoon to do a bit of work.. tired..

That evening, the whole family including my inlaws, bro/sis in law and the kids went to Rivervale Plaza to have dinner at Macdonalds.. I think he had a great time munching his fries, ice-cream and being with his cousins. :) Later, I brought him to a nearby cake shop to choose his birthday cake..there wasn't much selection to choose from so he took quite awhile before making the decision.... Phew... We walked back to my bil's place for another Happy Birthday singing session and cake cutting 'ceremony'.. :)

We already gave Denver his present a couple of weeks ago - Ben 10 watch. He also received a couple of other presents too.. 2 new pairs of shirt and short from Uncle Owen and Chun Ho and a toy sword from my Brother & Sister in law.

Dear Denver, I hope you had fun and enjoyed it.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

~ New Blackberry ~

Yeah.. get to change my blackberry 2 days ago... (due to end of contract). Well, actually it will be even better if I do not carry one... since the BB is used for work matters and to support urgent calls. Ever since I carry it, I have the habit of looking at the emails which can be quite disruptive and disturbing.

Still, it's a new device and I like it.. :) I chose the Blackberry Curve 8320 model and comparing with my old BB, it is lighter, have a 2 mp camera, wider screen and WIFI. Cool!

Anyway.. fallen sick today with cough, flu and headache. Took MC today..but still have to a night meeting tonight. :( Today is Denver's 5th birthday too!! Have to get well soon to celebrate with him later too.

~ Uncle Leong Seafood ~

Peiyi came down from KL to visit and we decided to give her a treat to thanks her for helping us to book the hotel and bus tickets during our recent trip. As she wanted to eat big crab (since its not available in KL), we decided to take her to Uncle Leong Seafood ... Coincidentally, we met Huijie too.. she was also meeting her friends there for dinner. :)

This is our 3rd time there within 2 months... We ordered a couple of dishes.. including the famous "Golden Sand" crab. The crabs were big and meaty.. priced at $38 per kg.. pricy but nice.. The claypot crab beehoon was nice too.. We all had a heavy stomach after the dinner.. The good thing was now they accept payment by Credit cards.. (last time it was Cash only).

Name - Uncle Leong Seafood
Address - 233 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 Street 22 #01-1194, 6554-3453
Total bill - $160.. ($110 for 2 crabs).
No. of pax - 5 adults, 2 kids
Things to note - No booking accepted for timing after 630pm. Expect queue after 7pm.

Golden Sand Crab

Claypot crab bee hoon

Spinach with salted egg and chicken egg

Chicken meat

Fried Seafood Toufu

~ Cranky Gladys ~

Gladys has been giving me headache for the past 2 nights.. :( Usually she is fast asleep within the hour .. but it's not happening lately.. by 10pm she is still awake.. not even letting my hubby hugging her to bed. Started to cry badly when he tries to carry her.. which is so strange as she used to let him "sayang" her to bed..

I just ended my weekly team meeting and tonight was really bad.. The teleconference started at 930pm and Gladys is still awake.. She rejected her Daddy and I ended carrying her throughout the meeting session. I had to tell my boss that I need to mute the phone to avoid interruption and of course the noise. Denver has also been noisy too.. he went to bed but end up waking up and crying for Mummy... :(

I wonder if it is the after effects from the Malaysia trip.. think we have to take them to pray else I will have difficult times aheads.. Hopefully the rest of the week will be good and the kids can sleep well..

~ Happy Father's Day Card ~

The night before Father's Day, Hubby was called back to work and he worked through the entire night till the next morning. While being home alone with the kids, I suggested to Denver that he draw a Father's Day card for Daddy to give him a surprise and make him happy :) .. We waited for Gladys to fell sleep and Denver started with his drawings and colouring. :) Nice Picture!

~ Dora the Explorer - Live! ~

It has been a week since Denver's accident... A rather tough week has past. Was not able to sleep well and took MC on Monday. Work piled up and I was really busy especially with the new product launching next week...I can feel the stress. Cough and sorethroat starts to develop on Wednesday... I knew I am going to fall sick as my voice is getting coarse..

Hubby called on that Wednesday afternoon saying he got 4 free tickets to the Dora the Explorer Live! Dora’s Pirate Adventure show at the Expo. Denver should love it very much...It's about 1 and a half hour show and I do ponder if the kids can stay put and finish watching the musical. I wasn't feeling well but guess we should not give that a miss... It was lucky too I did not have any team meeting that night. We got rather good central seats.. I checked online that it would have cost us $48 per ticket. Amazingly, Denver and Gladys really paid attention and finish watching the entire show! I guess the songs, lightings, characters really helped. In addition, it is something they are both very familiar with (since they have been watching it on TV so often)... It wasn't very crowded either and we had the entire row all by ourselves which gives us a lot of space to move around and put our stuff. I'm glad the kids love it... by the time we got home and the kids are asleep, I also fall asleep... but only to wake up feeling feverish at 3am with a bad flu and sorethroat.. I moved myself to the living room and slept there through morning..

True enough, I lost my voice the moment I woke up. Had 2 days MC... but only took half a day medical leave on Thursday and work through my Friday.... Many issues with work and next week I must get ready to Battle! There is going to be a major meeting and I do expect a lot of issues and questions. Still, I thought I should enjoy my weekend..but end up sobbing today.

Why? Just feeling very helpless.. tired.. Work piling, there are still housework to do.. I hope hubby can help with packing the luggage... do not wish to leave it till the weekdays cos I know I would be too busy with work and no mood to do them. Seeing him playing his online games and not lifting a hand really makes me mad and sad. When Denver had the accident, I told him he should spend some time with him.. instead of endulging in his computer games.. Guess a leapoard cannot change his spots.. I guess packing can always wait for him.. but not to me.. Maybe its my bad habit that I like things to be prepared early.. and know what is missing. I just found out that I can't find the milk powder container.. but I do not bother to tell him anymore.. I did not even bother to pack his clothes and stuff that I will usually do.

I realise I have so little time for myself.. When I am sick.. I still have to make sure my job are done. When my body is tired... I just fall asleep.. I wanted to play stickers with Denver today.. but my mood just gets into me and he had to watch me cry and go to bed.. I do felt guilty afterwards...especially looking at the scar on his face.. which also makes me feel even worse. It's really sad to think that if Mummy is tied up with work or too tired... no one can spend time with the kids. At least I know Hubby would not take the initiative.. Sad... Sometimes I wonder who cares for me.. Gosh.. I spoil my own weekend again. :(